She came 661 miles...it took her six months to get here.

A long journey to healing 

Binta's story, written by Mercy Ships' staff writer Catherine Murphy

What could possibly compel a poor woman in West Africa to travel over 1000 kilometers – a journey that would take six months and exhaust all of her resources and ingenuity – to get to a hospital ship? The answer is stark in its simplicity – the journey was born out of a desperate, fragile hope that she could find healing and restoration.

Binta lives in southeast Guinea. Six months ago, a man in her village told her about news he had heard on the radio – a hospital ship was coming to the nation’s capital, Conakry. “The ship has doctors that can help you,”the man said.

Binta is in her late thirties and has suffered from vesicovaginal fistula (VVF), a devastating childbirth injury, since she was a teenager. During several days of prolonged, obstructed labor, Binta’s baby was stillborn during a traumatizing delivery. The injury to her birth canal made Binta incontinent; she has been continuously leaking urine for years. Her condition made her an outcast within her own remote village. But now there was news that she could be “fixed” . . . and she dared to hope.

With the little money she had, Binta set out on her journey – a trip that was filled with new experiences.

She traveled from her village in the dense rainforest region to the city of Senko. Once there, she used what little money she had to pay for transportation to the next city – Beyla. It was her first time to ever ride in a car.

From Beyla to Nzerekore to Macenta to Gueckedou to Kissidougou to Conakry – a blur of new sights and sounds. She stopped when she had to, staying in one city for up to two months where she worked doing laundry to save enough money for the next leg of her journey. She paid people with cars or motorbikes to give her a lift. Binta traveled more than 661 miles (1063 km) in 6 months to seek help from Mercy Ships.

Finally, she arrived on the dock – with no money and only the clothes on her back. “It was something inside of me that told me, ‘Do it!’” Binta said. The Africa Mercy is the first ship she has ever seen.

Last week, Mercy Ships volunteer surgeon Dr. Steve Arrowsmith repaired Binta’s fistula. Today she is dry. She no longer leaks urine; she no longer smells.

Dr. Arrowsmith and some of the VVF ladies

And now, Binta longs to return home to her sister’s children, triplets, whom she has cared for since her sister passed away in 2011. Because there are no phones there, Binta hasn’t spoken with her family since she left. Fortunately, she will get home to them soon – a much simpler journey this time, with assistance from Mercy Ships.

And Binta will leave Mercy Ships with a dry skirt, a full heart and a new life. Her courage has been rewarded, her hope has been reborn, and her life has been restored

pictures, pictures, pictures

Hospital Open House Round 2

As you'll be able to tell from the pictures, Caroline was just as into the Hospital Open House activities the second time as she was during the first open house (if not more so!).  Emma was way more into it....Eli significantly less (he was really trying to convince us to let him go play with friends).

Caroline working with a sweet lady named Jill to intubate a baby

Putting an IV in with Mrs. Andrea - who is not only a nurse but an incredible singer & choir director 

Hearing about the relay race...trying to decide whether or not to do it...being told that the winner got a little bag of "happy pills" (aka M&Ms) convinced her

Participating in the relay race!

In the pharmacy trying to guess the number of pills in the cylinder

Aunt Amy may not end up being the only doctor in the family!

Emma doing the intubating thing



She made the "baby" breathe!!

Having a go at wound care

Some more wound care. 

Sweet girls meeting one of the patients in the ward

Hair cuts for the Cash Girls!

The pictures will tell you better than my words...no worries, the streaks were very temporary :)

 

After a fun and exciting hour in the hair salon last Thursday, we've got 2 ponytails in an envelope waiting to go back to the States to be mailed to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths program.  It's fun to be able to give freely of a gift God has given us. 

A few other glimpses into Cash Family Life

sweet sisters' saturday snuggling

one of Eli's favorite spots lately - at the computer playing Minecraft

Spirit Day in the Acadamy - Theme: Dream Job
We've got a Skittles Tester & Analyst, a Star Wars/Lego Consultant and a Clown

Too sweet of a picture not to share

Eli's hidden talent may be rapping.

And dancing...he was surprisingly good in the Christmas Play.

Alright...I suppose that's enough pictures for one post.  

Been thinking alot about how life is completely normal and ridiculously strange...that may be coming in a post soon.  We'll see if I can get the thoughts to make sense...

Please pray for Nick and the team as they go upcountry next week.  They'll leave early Monday morning and will be returning the following Wednesday.  Feel free to pray for me during the 10 days that he's gone...I like him alot and miss him tremendously when he's not around! 

Thanks for sharing life with us...it's encouraging to know that people care enough to keep up with us through this blog. 

Surely there will be more to come.

The Ortho Tent (and its decorations!)

A few weeks ago our family got to participate in a simple service project.  We were able to help decorate the Ortho Tent!

"The orthopedic tent on the dock is where the children who have had orthopedic surgery to straighten their legs come and have physical therapy for several weeks or months. To liven it up, the Elementary art classes made decorations. They used hand and footprints of the staff and patients and put them on posters."  --Catherine Schwebel

It was fun to take a few minutes and hang up decorations and pray for the work that goes on in the Ortho Tent.

Even Emma was able to get in on the action.  
She's quite the hole puncher. 

A Few Flying Fish from the Fourth & Fifth Grades
(and a little alliteration)

The finished product:

The Decorators Extraordinaire!

One of my favorites:

And now (drum roll if you like)....a really cool time lapse video that shows the goings on of the Ortho Tent (aka Physical Therapy Tent) on any given morning:

It's pretty incredible to think of the work that is done within that tent each day.  Casts are being changed.  People are learning to walk...either again or for the first time.  Body parts are being strengthened...and courage is being gained in the process. Smiles and laughter are being shared.  Hope and healing are being brought to this earth through the physical therapists and their team.  

Thank you, God for the Ortho Tent and the team that works within.  Thank you for all that you are accomplishing in it and through it.  Please pour out your healing through these faithful volunteers.  Establish the work of their hands and minds.  Thank you for the patients and their families and the life that they are receiving within the tent on the dock.  Thank you that the lame are indeed walking - your Word is coming alive in the Ortho Tent.  Hallelujah!  

Surely there will be more to come!

Look What God Has Done in Guinea during the first half of this Field Service

By the numbers - our stats so far in Guinea!

As of mid-January we are just over half-way through the Guinea Field Service. To give you an idea of what is going on here, here are some of the statistics so far.   Please remember that each number represents a LIFE that has been impacted...a family that has been changed forever...a work that God is doing...

 
Cataract surgeries - 639
"Other" eye surgeries - 60
Eye evaluations and treatments - 11,001 total services

Maxillofacial surgeries (head and neck tumors) - 225 patients
Cleft lip and palate repairs - 81 patients
Plastic and reconstructive surgeries - 18 patients
General surgeries (thyroid, hernia, etc.) - 127 patients
Fistula repairs (VVF) - 32 women

Orthopedic surgeries - 116 patients
Ponsetti clubfoot corrections - 51 patients
Hospice care for terminally ill - 22 patients
Physical therapy services - 1,428 encounters

Dental care (tooth decay, infections, extractions) - 18,495 procedures (5,027 patients)
Dental hygiene services - 387 patients
Dentures - 425 sets
Basic oral health training for students - 1,010
Basic oral health training for clinic patients - 3,943

Individual counseling sessions - 1,936
Individual HIV counseling sessions - 310

Food for Life Agricultural training - 18 participants

Leadership conferences and training for local Africans:
Church leaders - 463 participants
Community leaders - 423 participants
Government leaders - 313

 

We can't wait to see what the remainder of our time in Guinea looks like!

 

Surely there will be more to come!!!

Breathing Easy - Alya's Story

 

Soriba sits on a stool at the end of an empty hospital bed with his arms folded across his green and blue striped shirt. His eyes are fixed on the door. He is waiting for news of Alya, his son, who has been in surgery for nearly three hours to remove a tumor from his small neck.

At only six years old, Alya suffered with a tumor that had grown to the size of a potato inside his neck. “He was a few months away from suffocating from this,” Mercy Ships surgeon Dr. Neil said.

Across the narrow hallway of the hospital ship, Alya’s skilled volunteer surgeon, Dr. Neil, works diligently with OR nurses to finish up a successful surgery. “Incredible,” he says of Alya’s tumor, which had grown around his windpipe. “He was a few months away from suffocating from this.”

In his six short years, the tumor Alya has had on his neck since birth grew from the size of a quarter to the size of a potato. But today, because of Mercy Ships, there remains only a crescent-shaped scar, made up of a couple dozen stiches, where that tumor used to be.

There is a sacred moment in the hospital wards of the Africa Mercy when a nurse tells a patient’s family member that the surgery was successful. Delivering this news is more than just giving an update – it is telling someone that their loved one’s life is forever changed. Mercy Ships ward nurse Rachel Greenland smiles as she approaches Alya’s father. “The surgery went very well,” she says. Soriba’s eyes flutter between Rachel and the translator as the message is relayed in his language, Susu.

“Everything went well. He hasn’t woken up yet, but he will soon,” Rachel says.

Soriba, Alya's father, awaits the news of his son's surgery

Sitting up a little straighter now, Soriba looks around the room. He smiles and in Susu announces to the ward, “My mind is free, my heart is happy!”

Another patient chimes in from a bed nearby, lifting his head to get a better view, as he says, “Let God bring these kinds of people every year in this country!”

“Amen!” says Soriba.

What had been hushed mumbles quickly turns to chatter from the surrounding patients and caregivers. “May God help them to bring healing for other illnesses we have here,” says a woman in the bed behind Soriba.

Soriba turns and holds up his hands, adding, “Amen. May there be healing for all.”

Four days later, a squirmy Alya sits on his knees at the end of his hospital bed, pulling on his father’s shirt. He is no longer the little boy who can’t catch his breath. He is no longer exhausted from his hindered breathing.

Alya proudly wears a red star sticker on the middle of his forehead and a huge smile on his face. Next to him, his father eyes the door – this time for a different reason. Today, Alya finally gets to go home, and they are anxious to leave.

“Without this opportunity, we don’t have the means for surgery,” Soriba says. “Now I am happy; may you come every year.”

Written by Catherine Murphy; Edited by Nancy Predaina

Photos by Paul Millgate and Bright Effowe

 

Hallellujah for life change! Praise the Lord for this 6 year old boy who will LIVE!  It's hard not to associate him with another sweet six year old named Caroline that I know. 

 

Thank you God, that Alya can breathe - and with his breath he can join in with creation and praise You.  Thank you for saving his life...may He fall deeply in love with you and honor you all the days of his life...may He know you as Healer and Provider and Savior and Lord...may he know you as Friend and Father and Helper. We are so grateful for the life that is ahead of this precious son and this beautiful family.   

 

Surely there will be more to come!!!

Free Book Download for You!! Happy Monday!

 For any of you who may be interested, Mercy Ships has made a downloadable version of the book "Ships of Mercy" available for free.  In this book Don Stephens, Founder of Mercy Ships, tells the incredible ongoing story of 35-years of service to some of the world's forgotten poor. 

 

"From the uncertain beginnings of the first Mercy Ships the Anastasis who sailed to four continents to the Africa Mercy serving in West Africa it is an expiring story of bringing the good news to the least of all."

The link that follows will take you to the site where you can download a copy. Click here.
Feel free to share this with anyone who may be interested! 

The Crew Galley!

Wrote this on Saturday...not sure how it managed to not get posted...oh well, it's not time sensitive material, so here ya go:

In an attempt to continue on with our "tour of the ship" - we thought it would be fun for you all to see the Crew Galley (especially since we've spent quite a bit of time in there this morning making muffins, granola and french fries).

The Crew Galley!

Since we don't have full blown kitchens in our cabins, the crew has access to "the crew galley" on Deck 6.  It's not the galley where all the cooking is done for the ship....but a much smaller kitchen with all sorts of gadgets and pretty much all that you need to cook.

The vast collection of cooling racks, muffin tins, mixing bowls, etc. 

pots, pans, cookie sheets, etc. 

One of the most dangerous places on the ship:  the knife drawer! 

Sometimes it takes a bit of digging to find what you're looking for (gotta dig carefully in the knife drawer)...and sometimes I wonder why there are so many of a certain item (like cutting boards...there are dozens of cutting boards!!  I guess they go with all the knives in the knife drawer)...but really it's a well-stocked, very useful room on the ship! (people who are more particular about their kitchen tools may disagree with me....).

There are multiple ovens and sinks, some refrigerators and a freezer, a microwave, some mixers (including 2 Kitchen Aids!), a bread machine and other things that I don't know how to use (and thus far have had no need to know how to use them!) (I've never actually used the Kitchen Aids...I just know some people really like them and would appreciate knowing they are here!)

Emma and her cuteness helping to make cookies a few weeks ago.

We like the bigness of the sinks. 

One of the perks of "cooking in community" is that people are often willing to let you sample their fare.  We've gotten to eat some incredible cookies, popcorn, banana chips, guacamole, scones and random other things  - all because we happened to be in the right place at the right time (just this morning we got a stack of waffles that some friends made and had leftover...waffles for lunch make the Cash Crew quite happy).

Other fun facts about the Crew Galley:

• the oven temperatures are in Celsius...thankfully, there's a handy chart for conversions (I haven't taken it upon myself to memorize the formula for converting fahrenheit to celsius...)

• you're not allowed to leave the crew galley if the oven/stove is on...it's kind of fun to have an excuse to sit and read while something is baking...or it's a fun change of scenery for homework to get done if we're making an after school snack (but it's slightly inconvenient if you've forgotten something and need to go back to the cabin and get it)
• it's pretty loud in there! 
• the Crew Galley doubles as the "Science Lab" for the Academy.

So there ya go...a glimpse into our kitchen.  Any requests for what you'd like to see next??  

Surely there will be more to come!